Device for cutting index tabs in book pages



Jan. 16, 1951 w. J. ALVlNO ETAL I DEVICE FOR CUTTING INDEX TABS IN BOOK PAGES Filed June 11, 1948 INVENTORS WIL L IAMJALVINO JAC 0 B BAUER BY CAWlW, 7 4 4 Patented Jan. 16, 1951 DEVICEYFOR GUTTINGJNDEX TABS IN 7 BOOK PAGES William J. Alviiio; Massapeqna and Jacob Bauer,

' (ile'ndale NrYr Applicationlfime 11, 194s; strains. 22,344

This invention relates to improvements in de- 'vices for cutting notches" in pages of books" to" expose the section or'i'ndex tabs therein.- It relates particularly to an improved form of knife or blade for use in devices of the type referred to above.

The shears used heretofore for the above- 'me'n'tion'ed; purpose are of the power actuated cutter and anvil type, that is, they include a cutter member which is urged" by pneumatic pressure against an opposing flat surface formed on an arm which is inserted between the leaves of the books so that as the cutter moves, it shears offsections of the pagesof the books of increasing depthfrom topto bottom to provide the 'a'forcof the arms of the shears by means of a set screw and is usually provided with a slot extending lengthwise of theblade to permit adjustment of the blade toward and away from the" cooperating anvil. I orderto prevent the blade from slipping endwise undercutting impact; the arm on which the bladeis: mounted is provided with a threaded member for receiving a nut which bears against l the cutting edge at the upper end of the blade.

It is intended that the blade should be reversed. to allow" the sharp edge to be used until' it, in turn, becomes dull. Practically,- the edge of the blade is in engagementwiththe adjusting nut is not of any great utility for the reason that ment with the nut. In addition; because of the shock to which the blade is subjected, this upper and non-used edge oftentimes is chipped: or

broken. M

It has also been found that the prior blades become dull very quickly. It i'sbelieved-thatloss of sharpness is due to the fact that the corners of the bladecome into contact with the anvil so forcefully that they tend tochip or crack. Also, the blade does not have sum'cient transverse rigidity and,- as a consequence itvibrates on passing through the pages of the books, and. this vibration not only quickly dul-ls the edge of: the blade but it also': results in score lines or ragged edges on the notches. out in the books. Usually, blades of the type used heretofore have an effective operating life, before requiring resharpening, of only two or three hours when 'used' continuously.

Sharpening of the dull blades. is. a. rather difii-v cult operation requiring substantial skill because the steel used in these blades is very hard and the bevel: on the bladev must be ground to close limits. As aresult, the irequentreplacement rea camel (Cl. 304-78) it quickly becomes dull by reason of itsengage-. a:

sharpening of. the blades is expensive and time consuming.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of cutting blade for shears for notching book pages which can be used for long periods of time without resharpening.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of blade or k'nife fordevices' of the type described above which is much less likely to break and which can be more firmly and securely retained in position so that tearing or scoring'of the edges'of the notches in the pages is, to a large extent, eliminated.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent from the following'description of a typical form of knife or blade embodying the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, we have provided a blade for" cutting notches in the pagesof books and the. like in which the cutting edge is annulanorcircular; The blade is further characterized by a semi-cylindrical hollow body portion which ad'apts it to fit over the positioning head or hammer of the conventional type of shear used in notching. operations. The blade is further provided with an annular sleeve portion at its upper end which" receives the head of the hammer to thereby more securely position the blade on the shear'arm.

Blades of the character embodying the present invention have been found to have a much greater operating life without resharpening than any of the prior" types of blades. The new blades" have been operated for periods of several weeks without requiring sharpening for apparently the cutting operation causes an automatic sharpening of the blade. Moreover, breakage of the blades due to impact is reduced toe; minimum.

For a better understanding of the present invention; reference may be had to the accompanying drawing, in which r Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a typical form of notching shears provided with a blade of the type embodying the present invention.

Fig". 2 is aview' of the head or hammer of the shears with the new blade mounted thereon and disclosedin longitudinal section; and

Fig; 3' is a View in elevation looking toward the back of the blade.

The new form of blade w-illbe described as used in conjunction with cutter and anvil types of shears of" the kind commonly used for notching thepagesof'books. As shown in Fig. I, the shear mechanism includes a handle portion I'll having a forwardly projecting arm H which is provided with a tapered nose portion l2 of generally wedge shape which adapts it'to be inserted: between the pages of a book. The nose portion [2 is provided with an anvil E13 which may be of disc-like form formed of a hard plastic material which secured to the and H by means of a rivet or screw. Piv- 3 otally mounted at I4 on the lever II is a second lever I5 which is provided with a head or hammerlike portion I6 on which the cutter is supported. The lever I5 has a rearwardly projecting arm I? which is connected by means of. a link It to a piston rod I9 which in turn is pivotally connected to a piston 20 of a pneumatic jack 2|. The cylinder 22 of the jack is supported rigidly on the lever I I by means of a downwardly extending bracket 23 so that the handle It and the cylinder it are maintained in fixed relation The lower end of the link I8 and V, the handle I 0.

Air may be supplied to the cylinder 22 by means of a pipe 25 which is connected to the cylinder through a valve 26, the details of which are not shown. The valve 26 is opened and closed'by means of a plunger 27 to admit air into the cylinder and to discharge air from the cylinder through a pipe 28 which blows the severed portions of the paper from the anvil i3. In operation, when the plunger 21 is depressed, the piston 29 moves to the right, thereby rocking the link 24 which controls the movement of the righthand end of the piston rod 20 and also straightens the link IS with the result that the leverlfi is rocked counterclockwise to urge the head it toward the anvil I3. Upon release of the plunger Fil air is vented from the cylinder through the pipe 28 and the elements are returned to the position shown by means of the spring 29 which is connected at its opposite ends to the link 24' and to the lever arm II. All of the above-described construction is conventional.

The blade which constitutes the present invention is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The blade B is provided with a tubular or annular portion 333 which is adapted to be disposed adjacent to the anvil E3. The outer surface of the edge portion 39 may be ground down to provide a bevelled cutting edge. Directly adjacent to and integral with the cutting edge portion 38 is a semi-cylindrical portion 3I of concave-convex cross-section, so shaped and dimensioned as to fit around the cylindrical .portion 32 of the hammer I6. The semi-cylindrical portion 3| extends only about half way around the cylindrical portion 32 of the hammer i5 and is relieved at its lower end so as to permit the blade to be applied to the head of the hammer. The upper end of the blade B is provided with a sleeve 33 which fits over the upper end of the cylindrical portion 32 of the hammer I6 so that when the blade is dropped over this portion 32, it is retained rather firmly in position. Theportion 32, may, if desired, be arranged so that it can be moved relative to the end of the'lever I5 to permit proper adjustment of the blade as a whole with respect to the anvil IS. The upper end of the sleeve 33 is provided with an inturned flange 34 bearing against the upper end of-the cylindrical portion 32 to limit the downward movement of the blade as a whole. The

blade may be held in its adjusted position by means of a nut 35 threaded on a stud 35 which extends upwardly from the arm I5 of the lever and may be also used to position the cylindrical portion 32 thereon.

Theblade is further providedwith an elongated slot 37 for receiving a screw 38 which is threaded into the member 32 to lock the blade in position.

The blade B is positioned accurately with re- 7 spect to the anvil I3 and is secured tightly in position by means of the nut 35 and the screw 38 so that vibration of the blade as a whole is reduced to a minimum. Also, the thinnest and weakest portion of the blade is supported by the cylindrical hammer portion 32 so that a very firm support for the cutting edge portion 30 is provided.

Blades of the type described above have a greatly prolonged operating life and they need be sharpened only at infrequent intervals. Apparently, these advantages of the blade arise by reason of the fact that a completely circular edge has far greater strength and rigidity and resistance to chattering under impact than does an arcuate blade edge and also the greater rigidity of the blade prevents chattering or vibration which would tend to weaken the hardened steel. Moreover, reduction of vibration permits a honing action to take place during the cutting operation so that the blade is kept sharp and the notches are out much more cleanly in the pages of the book.

It will be understood that the blade may be varied in size and may be adjusted as the purpose demands without departing from the invention. Moreover, the shape of the cutting edge, that is, its diameter, may be modified substantially dependingupon the size of the notches to be cut. Therefore, the form of the invention described above should be considered as illustrative and not as limiting the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

l. A blade for shears having a pair of pivotally connected arms, one provided with an anvil surface and the other with a generally cylindrical member having its axis disposed at substantially a right angle to said anvil portion; said blade comprising a hollow, semi-cylindrical body portion adapted to fit against one side of said cylindrical member, an annular cutting edge portion at one end of said body portion for cooperation with said anvil, a sleeve on the opposite end of said semi-cylindrical portion adapted to receive and fit the end of said cylindrical'member to u position saidblade on said member, and a slot extending lengthwise of said body portion for receiving means to secure said blade to said cylindrical member;

2. A blade for shears having a pair of pivotally -;connected arms, one provided with an anvil surface and the other with a generally cylindrical member having its axis disposed at substantially a right angle to said anvil portion; said blade comprising a hollow, semi-cylindrical body portion adapted to fit against one side of said cylindrical member, an annular cutting edge portion at one end of said body portion for cooperation with said anvil, a sleeve on the opposite end of said semi-cylindrical portion adapted to receive and fit the end of said cylindrical member to position said blade on said member, and means to secure said blade to said cylindrical member. 1 WILLIAM J. ALVINO.

JACOB BAUER.

REFERENCES CITED Rowe Apr. 23, 1867 Leith Feb. 6, 1912 Number. 

